the president wants to help the middle class, he'll accept the basic outline speaker boehner proposed last week, convince his fellow democrats to do the same, ignore the reckless voices of those on the far left who are calling for a fiscal calamity, ignore the extremists who want to cover their eyes and do absolutely nothing to protect and strengthen entitlement programs for the future, and propose a plan that both sides can actually accept. that's how we get out of this. that's how we succeed. the scope of this challenge calls for presidential leadership. that's what the american people should be able to expect, and that's all republicans are calling for. it's the president's turn to propose a specific plan that brings both parties together. that's what presidents are elected to do. that's what he pledged to do, and it's precisely the sort of leadership we need. mr. president, i yield the floor. the presiding officer: under the previous order, the leadership time is reserved. the clerk will report the pending business. the clerk: calendar number 504, s. 3525, a bill to protect and en